Soap-dispensing apparatus.



T. E. JONES.

SOAP DISPENSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1912.

1 095 215 V PatentedMay5,1914.

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THOMAS E. JONES, OF HAMMOND, INDIANA.

SOAP-DISPENSING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Application filed June 2'7, 1912. Serial No. 706,304.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Lake and State of Tndiana, have invented a new and use ful Soap-Dispensing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for shaving and dispensing soap, its object being to provide a simple and compact apparatus of this character in which the soap s protected fronimoisture, the mechanism be ing made up of but few parts and being easy to operate.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention. i In the accompanying drawings the pre and extending through a portion of the. length thereof, there being an opening 3 1n' the wall of the casing which is normally closed by a sheet 4. of transparent material, such as mica, this sheet being held in place by a cleat 5 extending along the sides and bottom of the opening. Through this opening the contents of the casing 1 can be readily viewed.

Seated within the lower end of the casing is a frame made up of top and bottom strips 6 and 7 respectively connected by transversely curved end strips 8 slidably posi tioned in the casing l. An ear 9 is struck up from the bottom strip 7 and. journaled therein is one end of an actuating shaft 10, the other end of this shaft being extended through one of the end strips 8 and through a slot 10 which extends into the casing 1 from the lower end thereof. A crank arm 11 or the like is connected to the outer end of shaft 10 and by means thereof the said shaft can be rotated conveniently. A gear 12 is secured to the shaft 10 and close to the ear 9, there being a spacing sleeve 13 upon the shaft and between the gear 12 andthe adjacent end strip 8, this sleeve serving to hold the gear against displacement longitudinally.

Gear 12 1neshes with a bevel gear 14 secured to the lower end portion of a shaft 15, said shaft being journaled at its lower end, within the bottom strip 7, of the frame and being also extended through an opening in the top strip 6. That portion of the shaft within the frame is reduced in diameter so that an annular shoulder 17 is thus formed,

said shoulder bearing downwardly on the top strip 6, as shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3. The top strip 6 has a V-shaped cap 18 integral therewith and operating as a defiector so as to direct soap shavings past the frame and between said frame and the wallof the casing 1. This cap or deflector has been shown in transverse section in Fig. 8. It will be seen that an opening 19 is formed in the cap and that the shaft extends through the opening.

Secured to the shaft 15 close to but above the deflector 18 are oppositely disposed arcuate blades 20. One longitudinal edge of each blade is toothed, as shown at 21 while the other edge thereof has all portions disposed in the same plane, as shown at 22. As the blades are oppositely disposed, it will be seen that the toothed ed e 21 of one blade is uppermost while the pl aln edge of the other blade is uppermost. That portion of 'the shaft 15 above the blades is screw threaded, and this threaded portion of the shaft extends upwardly close to the upper end of the casing 1. I

A disk 23 is mounted on the shaft 15 and constitutes a follower this disk being formed, in its periphery, with a notch 24 through which the rib 2 extends. The rib thus prevents the disk or follower from rotating. A central opening 25 is formed in the disk or follower and the screw threaded portion of the shaft extends loosely through this opening. Pivotally mounted upon the upper face of the follower 23 are oppositely disposed jaws 26 each of which is provided, in one face, with a threaded recess 27 adapted to engage the threaded portion of the shaft 15. Springs 28 are secured on the follower 23 and bear against the jaws so as to hold the threaded recessed portions thereof into engagement with opposed portions of the threaded shaft. A keyhole slot 29 is formed in the follower 23 at a point between the jaws 26 and a stop lug 30 ex tends upwardly from the follower between said jaws and serves to limit the movement of said jaws toward each other when they are out of engagement with the shaft.

For the purpose of shifting the jaws apart and out of engagement with the threaded portion of the shaft, a key, such as shown in Fig. 6, is used. This key includes a stem 31 having a handle 32 at one end while its other end is flattened so as to form oppositely extending wings 32. A stud 33 projects beyond the wings and has a pin 341 extending radially therethrough and therebeyondr The upper end of the casing 1 is adapted to be closed by means of a cap 35 which fits snugly thereon and is imperforate. The lower end of the casing is frictionally engaged by an annular flange 36 formed at the upper end of a frusto-conical out-letspout 37.

In using the apparatus, the cap 35 is removed after which the key, shown in Fig. 6, is inserted into the casing 1 so as to bring the stud 33 into the keyhole slot 29. The stem 31 is then rotated by means of handle 32 and the wings 32 thus move against the inner edges of the jaws 26 and cause said jaws to swing apart and out of engagement with the threaded portion of shaft 15. This movement also brings the ends of the pin 3% under the walls of the slot. 29. Thus it will be seen that by pulling upwardly on 'the key the ends of the pin 34 will pull upwardly on the disk or follower 23 and, as the jaws 26 are out of engagement with the shaft 15, it will be apparent that the follower can thus be withdrawn from the casing 1. A cake of soap Ghaving a central opening therein for the reception of the shaft 15, is laced in the casing 1 so as to restupon the blades 20. The follower, with the key still holding the jaws 26 spread apart, is then replaced on the shaft 15 and moved donwardly until it comes into contact with the cake of soap. The key is then turned so as to release the jaws and the springs 28 promptly throw said jaws into engagement with the shaft 15. This movement of the key will also shift the pin 34 so that it can be withdrawn readily from the slot 29. The key is then removed from the casing 1 and the cap 35 is replaced. When the soap is to be dispensed, the shaft 10 is rotated and motion is thus transmitted, through gears 12 and 14:, to the shaft 15. The threaded portion of the shaft, being engaged by the jaws 26, will feed the follower 23 downwardly and thus cause the cake of soap to press against the blades 20. As these blades are rotating, the teeth 21 engaging the soap will dig concentric grooves in the lower face of the cake and the edge of the blade 20 following will scrape the grooved surface of the cake so as thus to remove small shavings from said cake and cause them to gravitate onto the deflecting cap 18. The shavings will thus be directed to the spaces at the sides of the frame made up of strips 6, 7 and 8 and will drop into the frusto-conical spent 37 from which they will gravitate. After the cake of soap has been completely used, the follower can be removed in the manner hereinbefore described and another cake placed in position. In the drawings a cake of soap has been indicated at G.

A. projection 38 may be formed on or secured. to the outer surface of the casing 1. this projection having a threaded recess 3%) for the reception of a suitable bracket not shown, whereby the apparatus can be fixedly mounted at the point where it is to be used.

It will be noted that as hereinbefore stated, the blades 20 are similar and oppositely disposed. Thus it becomes unnecessary to manufacture rights and lefts. It will also be seen that the various parts of the apparatus can be easily detached. Frame 6 and the parts thereon can be removed from the casing 1 simply by removing the spout 37. As the cap 35 can also be removed it will be apparent that the interior of the casing can be easily cleaned whenever desired and the remaining parts can also be cleaned easily.

lVhat is claimed is The combination with a cylindrical casing, there being a slot in the lower end of the casing, of a frame insertible into said end of the casing, a shaft journaled in the frame and adapted to extend through the slot, the top of the frame being extended diametrically across the casing and being triangular in cross sectional contour to constitute a deflector, a shaft journaled in the deflector, separate means operated by the rotation of said shaft for feeding soap downwardly within the casing and for shaving the soap, respectively, means for transas my own, I have hereto afiixed my signamitting motion from one shaft to the other, ture in the presence of two Witnesses. and a spout removahly mounted upon the lower end of the casing and constituting the THOMAS JONES 5 sole means for holding the frame and the Witnesses:

parts carried thereby, Within the casing. FRANK E. MOORE,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing G. F. EMERY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. O. 

